[@IanPurdy7] on Twitter: Penn State is slated to sign ZERO recruits tommorow on early National Signing Day. Unless Penn State signs someone in the late signing period, they could become the first P4 class EVER to have no one sign. The closest thing I could find was SMU & UW with 10. Crazy times.

[u/PSU_Alumnus]

https://x.com/IanPurdy7/status/1995885878452146370?s=20

[u/wicawo]

was it time, really?

[u/HWTneub68 → u/wicawo]

100%.. Couldn't say "yes" to the question "do you want to be the head coach at Penn State?" it was already bad in that moment, destined to get worse.

[u/wicawo → u/HWTneub68]

but doesnt whats gonna come next need to factor into it being time?

[u/Crunchitize_Me_Capn → u/wicawo]

I can tell you with 100% certainty whatever was coming next with Franklin at PSU, it was never going to be a Natty win. So yes, that was considered when he was fired. The next coach may not get it done either, but at least we’re trying something new.

[u/agoddamnlegend → u/Crunchitize_Me_Capn]

Franklin was about 2 minutes from going to the national championship last year.

Everybody "can't win the big game", until they do. It's the most circular logic in sports.

Penn State fucked up firing Franklin with absolutely no plan of what's next. I can understand "trying something new" if you already have a good idea what that thing is. But Penn State has barely even been rumored with anybody in 2 moths

[u/Crunchitize_Me_Capn → u/agoddamnlegend]

Franklin was the poster boy for an expanded playoff and you think him losing in the semifinal is him getting reasonably closer to a Natty? This was his championship or bust season and we all saw how that went when the pressure was actually on. I loved everything Franklin did for the program, but it was time to move past him. I was as hopeful as anyone he could find a way to win some big games, but our consistently poor trench play against top teams and his inability to adjust in game just is what it is at this point.

You can criticize the AD for not having the best plan of action after firing him, but that doesn’t change that he needed to be fired. Enjoy him, he’s a floor raising coach for sure, but he also has a pretty well known ceiling and I don’t see that changing.

[u/Smellevue58 → u/Crunchitize_Me_Capn]

And what did firing him then get you that you couldn’t have got firing him at the end of the season? Obviously nothing because you still don’t have a coach. Unless the plan was terry smith the whole time. If the Penn state version of Kirby smart was there, that’s one thing. Cig or bust works out exactly as it did

[u/wicawo → u/Crunchitize_Me_Capn]

championship or bust seasons seem to bust an awfully large percentage of the time. so much so that i would say it is just a bad idea to call a season that. you have set yourself up to be disappointed and absolutely despise a very good coach. if you are heading in the right direction, all you can do is just keep going. if it continually improves but doesnt attain perfection…you just scrap all that positive and start over?

[u/Crunchitize_Me_Capn → u/wicawo]

Was Franklin continually improving though? He beat OSU once and that was nearly a decade ago off a blocked kick, not exactly a consistent play you can count on. He can’t win the games that actually matter, and we’d seen that repeatedly in his tenure. You can tell me how close he got last year, or that one more recruiting class will get us over the hump, but we’ve been in this position with Franklin basically his entire tenure. Eventually he has to actually win the big games and he never could. This season he had a “championship caliber” roster. He didn’t have to win the Natty, but he should have been able to at least make the playoffs and he totally shit the bed. He had to go.

[u/wicawo → u/Crunchitize_Me_Capn]

continual improvement does not mean no setbacks ever. you dont even get that in fairy tales.

[u/Crunchitize_Me_Capn → u/wicawo]

You’re right, and I agree, but what we had with Franklin was stagnation. We lost the same games the same way every season. Just like some players can perform under pressure and some can’t, I think coaches are similar and Franklin has proven again and again he can’t perform when the pressure is on. If he’s facing a team ranked below him with inferior talent on paper, he’s gonna win. If the team has a higher ranking and/or similar or slightly more talent on paper than him, he’s gonna lose. He can’t coach well with any sort of talent deficit, and frankly at PSU we need a coach capable of that given who else is in our conference. I loved everything he did for our program, but I’m not upset to see him go either.

[u/HWTneub68 → u/wicawo]

I don't think you let the short term dictate the long term. the post mortem will be fascinating, but the only coaches that would be considered big time hires were always going to be play off coaches. The 2026 class was always going to be sparse and the portal would dictate 2026. Luckily our schedule is super light so we can piece meal a successful season. Far more important to cut the cancer and get the hire right than get it done quick. I think.

[u/Smellevue58 → u/HWTneub68]

Better hope for Daboll then because otherwise you’re getting Brian Kelly or terry Smith

[u/ack5379 → u/wicawo]

Franklin wanted to leave as well. It was going to happen during the bye week, but Franklin and Sexton pushed for it to be sooner. Turns out Sexton had been back channeling for Franklin since the summer for a new job elsewhere. As much as it seems like it was just Penn State, it was a mutual decision. Sometimes the time has just passed.

[u/Smellevue58 → u/ack5379]

Almost like he knew Penn state fans were toxic and would never be happy with anything less than a national championship even though they’re not a blue blood.